Presidential Letter
Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Consistent with section 204(b) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b) (IEEPA) and section 301 of the
National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1631, I hereby report that I have
issued an Executive Order (the "Order") that expands the sanctions
against Burma currently in place pursuant to the national emergency
with respect to Burma declared in Executive Order 13047 of May 20,
1997. Further, I hereby provide the notification to the Congress
required by section 3(b) of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of
2003 (the "Act") regarding my exercise of the waiver authorities
provided in that section.

In 1997, the United States put in place a prohibition on new
investment in Burma in response to the Government of Burma's large
scale repression of the democratic opposition in that country. Since
that time, the Government of Burma has rejected our efforts and the
efforts of others in the international com-munity to end its repressive
activities. In May of this year, that rejection manifested itself in a
brutal and organized attack on the motorcade of Aung San Suu Kyi, a
Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the peaceful democratic
opposition party in Burma, the National League for Democracy. The
Government of Burma has continued to ignore our requests for her to be
released from confinement, for the other National League for Democracy
leaders who were jailed before and after the attack to be released, and
for the offices of the National League for Democracy to be allowed to
reopen.

I have now determined that this continued and increasing repression
by the Government of Burma warrants an expansion of the sanctions
against that government. I applaud the Congress' efforts to address
the Government of Burma's action. The prohibitions contained in my
Order implement sections 3 and 4 of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy
Act of 2003 and supplement that Act with additional restrictions.

The Order blocks all property and interests in property of the
State Peace and Development Council of Burma, the Myanma Foreign Trade
Bank, the Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), and the Myanma
Economic Bank as well as all property and interests in property of
persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, to be senior officials of the Government
of Burma, the State Peace and Development Council of Burma, the Union
Solidarity and Develop-ment Association of Burma, or any successor
entity to any of the foregoing; or to
be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on
behalf of, directly or indirectly, any of the foregoing. The Order
also prohibits the exportation or re-exportation of financial services
to Burma either from the United States or by any United States person
and, 30 days from the effective date of the Order, the importation into
the United States of any article that is a product of Burma.

The Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department
of State, will implement a remittance program authorizing limited
personal transfers of funds and will authorize most transactions
relating to humanitarian, educational, and official United States
Government activities. Additionally, the Order grandfathers any
activity, or trans-actions incident to any activity, other than the
import of any products of Burma, undertaken pursuant to any agree-ment
that was entered into by a United States person with the Government of
Burma or a nongovernmental entity in Burma prior to May 21, 1997, the
effective date of Executive Order 13047.

I have determined that the waiver of the prohibitions described in
section 3 of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 with respect
to any or all articles that are a product of Burma is in the national
interest of the United States to the extent that prohibiting the
importation of such articles would conflict with the international
obligations of the United States under the Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the
United Nations Headquarters Agreement, and other legal instruments
providing equivalent privileges and immunities. In addition, in the
exercise of my constitutional authorities under Article II of the
Constitution to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I
will construe the Act in a manner that will in no way impair the
existing ability of United States diplomatic and consular officials to
import articles that are a product of Burma that are necessary to the
performance of their functions as United States Government officials in
Burma.

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary
of State, is authorized to issue regulations in the exercise of
authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and
sections 3(a) and 4 of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003,
other than the authority to make the determinations and certification
to the Congress that Burma has met the conditions described in section
3(a)(3), to implement the measures provided in the Order. The
Secretary of State is also authorized to exercise the functions and
authorities conferred upon the President by section 3(b) of the Burmese
Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. All Federal agencies are directed
to take actions within their authority to carry out the provisions of
the Order.

I have enclosed a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. This
Order becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 29,
2003.